TIMMINS – Timmins Mayor Steve Black said he is confident and optimistic that Timmins is still offering the best possible solution for Noront Resources Inc. in its bid to find a new ferrochrome processing facility. It was only Friday that Noront revealed that Timmins was one of two communities that made the new shortlist for consideration for a new facility.

Timmins had been one of four Northern Ontario cities in the running as a possible site for Noront’s future plans. Noront is the company with the largest area of active mining claims in the Ring of Fire area, which is touted to have $50-billion worth of chromite, nickel and other valuable minerals.

While the mining prospect is still a few years away from development, Noront has been actively seeking a Northern Ontario community where a ferrochrome facility could be located. Timmins, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie were all being considered.

Noront just announced that Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie are still being considered, while Thunder Bay and Sudbury were dropped from the search. Mayor Black, who was out of town last week when the news was announced, said Monday he was more than pleased with the work put forward in the Timmins submission.

“Thank you to everyone who worked with us to prepare the proposal,” he said, crediting the Timmins Economic Development Corporation, Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, “Porcupine Engineering, Glencore and all the partners. Thanks to council and those who supported our CIP (community improvement) program which was a significant part of our bid,” Black wrote on his Facebook page.